So that was 2007 then

So here we are, New Year's Eve - probably my least favourite night of the year - and the time has come to look back over the year.

All in all it hasn't been the best of years, chiefly because of the loss of some dear family members. Although I didn't see either of them as much as I would have liked to have done over the years I've really missed my Nan and Uncle Keith, and it has been hard knowing that they're no longer with us, particularly at this time of the year. On top of this, only a couple of weeks ago a very dear friend of mine tragically lost her husband and the news of this really knocked me and my friends sideways. I really hope that 2008 will see health and happiness rather than bereavement.

How did I do with my rather feeble resolutions from last year? Let's see...
* Sort my pension out. Well I'm currently battling to get this done, without much help from those advisor-type people I have to deal with. Hopefully they'll get their collective fingers out in the new year.
* Lose some weight. Disastrous. I've put weight on and seen my waistband increase by a couple of inches as a result.
* Get a bit more trim. As above.
* Write more. Not too good here, mainly because I've not had the time to do any due to work. I've managed to write a kind of autobiography and I'm very pleased with the result, but that's all I've managed to do this year. Must try harder, work permitting.
* Continue to improve as a trainer. Well I've picked up a lot more courses this year - all of the SQL 2005 courses in fact, barring the analysis services ones - but I've felt very "SQL'd out" of late and would love to be able to pick something else, something completely different, up. I do feel a little as though I've failed though as my barometer of whether I was any good or not this year hung, rightly or wrongly, on whether I was shortlisted for "trainer of the year" at work, and as I wasn't I feel I didn't do too well. Must try harder next year.
* Not lose my voice. Success! Speech therapy went well, I grew heartily sick of having cameras shoved up my nose, and I've not lost my voice all year, although it has gone very croaky at times.
* Cut a short story short (in other words don't waffle). I'm still rubbish at this, and there are lots of times when I'm talking to people and they suddenly start talking over me about something different, which upsets me. Must try harder.
* Stay away from forums. Sort of successful here. I've spent less time posting on forums and, apart from one spectacular tiff I had with a clown called "Steak" on Urmston.net I've been a good boy.

So what are my plans for 2008?
* Lose some weight and get in better shape. This follows on from this year.
* Do better at work. I feel I need to improve, not that I can work much harder with my current utilization rate of 97%.
* Feel better. For the last couple of months I've felt like there has constantly been something wrong with me - severe stomach pains, eczema on my forehead, migraines (including the one that scared me where one side of my face went numb), dodgy knees... the list goes on. I'm falling apart and I don't like it.
* Pay the Visa card off. It scares me.

Good and bad things of the year...
Bad:
* Relatives and friends dying.
* Laptop, house & car keys, address book etc. being stolen from work.
* Feeling rubbish.
* Feeling a bit SQL'd out.

Good:
* Some great concerts (more in a minute).
* Getting a new laptop.
* Writing the autobiography thing.
* Winning a prize from a competition I have no recollection of entering! I won a $150 American Express gift card from Prometric (exam company we use at work) for being one of the first to pass the CRM exams, which was lovely until I found out it could only be used in the USA! Thankfully Amazon.com accepted it as a method of payment so I bought some Sennheiser headphones and two of the four Sparks CDs I need to complete my collection (ordered the other two from Amazon.co.uk).
* The smoking ban. Fantastic!

So, the concerts of 2007. How did they rack up? I saw seventeen concerts in total (Lou saw fifteen as she didn't come to two of them) and the final rundown looks like this.

JOINT SIXTH PLACE:
* Frank Skinner at the Lowry. I didn't laugh.
* James at the MEN Arena. Good, but nowhere as good as they were the last time we saw them. It was also frustrating that we didn't know a lot of the songs they played, and I nearly had a fight with some people in front of us who were smoking.

JOINT FIFTH PLACE
* Nine Inch Nails at the Apollo. A very good concert with a fantastic setlist, but there was just too much dry ice, and as the volume was so loud when combined with the dozen or so strobe lights they had had on the stage it was a bit like being shouted at by an angry cloud.
* Prince at the O2 (3rd August). Good grief - I don't put Prince at number one?!?!?! No. I saw Prince three times during his 21-night residency at the O2 (really, really wish I could have gone more times) and this was the first of my trips down there. Sadly it wasn't very good. The sound was poor, and his choice of set list left a lot to be desired. As a result I was extremely disappointed, but he got better - a lot better...

JOINT FOURTH PLACE
* George Michael at the City of Manchester Stadium. A very competent performance, but quite lazy as the show was identical to his stadium tour from last year, only with a walkway into the audience. Wow.
* The Blue Nile at the Bridgewater Hall. Excellent musicianship and sound, but "Headlights on the Parade" went a bit awry, and it wasn't quite as moving as it should have been, especially as they played "Family Life".

JOINT THIRD PLACE
* Arcade Fire at the Apollo. Superb performance but a completely dead audience.
* Prince at the O2 (4th August). The day after the disappointment, and he was astonishingly good. I went nuts when he played "Controversy" and ended up dancing half way down the row.
* Arcade Fire at the MEN Arena. As with the Apollo show above.
* Take That at the MEN Arena (10th December). Excellent, but our seats were in a lousy spot so although we could see them we couldn't see the back projections, special effects etc.

JOINT SECOND PLACE
* Foo Fighters at the MEN Arena. Absolutely excellent show, and it bodes well for the two trips to see them we have lined up for next year.
* Low at the Academy 3. Lou didn't come to this one so I went with Chris from work. Low were incredible, and I cried a couple of times. Quite possibly my favourite band.
* Lionel Richie at the MEN Arena. I've never seen anybody get a crowd going like Lionel does - he is truly the master. A stunningly good show.
* PJ Harvey at the Bridgewater Hall. Bewitching. Polly Jean looked and sounded wonderful, and the concert seemed to last about ten minutes rather than the ninety minutes she was really onstage.
* Prince at the O2 (21st September). Again, Lou didn't come to this one and Testa was my sidekick. Quite possibly the best Prince show I've ever seen, definitely the best live show I've seen him do in the flesh but maybe even better than the videos and DVDs I've seen too.
* Take That at the MEN Arena (19th December). Outstanding. A better seat than on 10th, and it was just a fantastic show. Yes, I'm a fan.

FIRST PLACE
* Muse at Wembley Stadium. The greatest concert I have ever seen, full stop. Perfect in every way.

Other good things from 2007...
Favourite albums: "Neon Bible" by Arcade Fire, "Drums & Guns" by Low.
Favourite songs: "No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire, "Chelsea Rodgers" by Prince, "Rule the World" by Take That.
Favourite books: "Gold" by Dan Rhodes, "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly.

So here's to 2008 then. More concerts (currently booked: Morrissey, Foo Fighters - twice, "Here and Now", Dara O'Briain, Smashing Pumpkins... really hoping that R.E.M. tour too), two holidays (Parga and Lindos), and hopefully better health for me and those around me, more great books, a reduced waistline, and a better year all round. Fingers crossed.